The way from Uyuni to the Andes is a bumpy but magnificent one. It’s a long drive through the surreal landscapes of Camino de las Rocas until you reach the Siloli Desert in the Eduardo Abaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve. I will cover this scenery in a few separate blog posts over the next couple of weeks, as I came away with too many spectacular images to fit into a single post.
Here are some highlights from the road and Árbol de Piedra (stone tree) in the Siloli Desert.
Not far from the village of San Cristóbal, there is a spectacular little-known valley where women dressed in traditional Bolivian fashion shepherd their free-ranging llamas. This was by far the best surprise of our recent travels through Bolivia - an unplanned and spontaneous suggestion by the local driver.
On our way out of the village our driver asked, “Would you like to see some amazing llamas?”, to which we responded with an enthusiastic “Yes!”.
Little did we know the scenery would be this breathtaking. I hope you enjoy these images of llamas in their fantastic natural setting.
When thinking about Uyuni, the first picture that comes to mind is of the white salt flats stretching to the horizon. However, there are other incredible landscapes in this extremely arid part of Bolivia. One of them is the fantastic Train Cemetery. A couple hours’ drive away lies San Cristóbal, a traditional village on the ride to the Andes from the salt flats.
Below are some of my favourite photographs from these two locations (and see this for tips on how to best explore Uyuni and its surroundings as a photographer).
Although I expected a much more dramatic sunset, our evening in Uyuni Salt Flats in Bolivia was nevertheless surprisingly pretty. The low clouds resulted in a pastel coloured sunset unlike anything I had ever seen before. The mirrored effect on the ground caused by a thin layer of rain added to the surreal landscape of the salt flats.
I only wish I had spent more time there to capture a variety of sunsets, as the merged land and sky makes for some truly spectacular scenery. Here are some of my favourite images from that evening.
If you are interested in travelling to the Bolivian salt flats as a photographer, make sure you check out our guide on Two Dusty Lenses to help you plan your trip.
Luckily, I experienced the best of both worlds at the Uyuni Salt Flats. Not only did I capture images of the crisp white landscape on a sunny day (see them here), but shortly after it began to rain. These salt flats are known around the world for their beauty in the rain - the water creates a thin layer over the salts, resulting in an endless mirror all the way to the horizon. Here are some of my favourite photographs as the grey clouds rolled in and covered the landscape in a fantastic mirror glaze.
To learn more about when to visit Uyuni for such images, head over to the complete travel guide for photographers at Two Dusty Lenses.
Following on from La Paz, the Bolivian adventure followed onto the Uyuni Salt Flats. We had sunny and dry weather when we arrived, resulting in an otherwordly infinite white landscape as far as the eye could see in every direction.
This was an incredible destination and if you’d like to learn more and plan your own trip to Uyuni, I recommend that you check out our travel guide for photographers over at Two Dusty Lenses, which reveals all the best tips for an unforgettable trip to Bolivia.
But before you head on over and start booking your flights, I hope you enjoy the photo selection below!
I recently had a chance to explore Bolivia for the very first time. The first stop of the trip was the capital of La Paz. In between several rainy days, we squeezed in a lucky visit to Valle de la Luna under a blue sky. This was a great place to explore a completely alien landscape from both the ground and from the air, with aerial photography.
Here are some of my favourite images from this location. I will be posting more selected photographs from the rest of the trip - including the famous Uyuni Salt Flats and the Atacama Desert - over the next few weeks, so stay tuned for more!
I’ve been doing quite a lot of travelling and not enough posting, so it’s time to get my blog up to speed.
During my last visit to Brazil, I spent a few days in the beautiful city of Paraty. I didn’t get as much photography done as I would have liked, as I twisted my knee at the beach on the second morning, but here are some of my favourite shots from what I did capture, including the city itself and the nearby lavender fields.
During my one-day visit to the Isle of May, I had a chance to photograph a variety of wildlife. It was unfortunately too late in the breeding season for guillemots and razorbills, but I still saw plenty of kittiwakes, puffins, and grey seals.
Here are some of the wildlife highlights of the day.
During my stay at St Andrews, I went on a daytrip to Anstruther and took the ferry to the Isle of May. It was a very sunny day, and although the light was not at its best, it was still a great opportunity to see some truly amazing vistas (including many lighthouses!) and photograph some wildlife along the way.
Here are some of my favourite images from the Isle of May, featuring the island’s incredible landscape.
I recently had the incredible opportunity to spend two weeks in St Andrews, in Scotland, as a participant in the first ever Diverse Intelligences Summer Institute. Naturally, I packed my camera bag and tragged all my equipment to the other side of the world.
This was my second visit to Scotland and although I only had a couple of photography opportunities in my spare time, it again surpassed all my expectations. Here are some of my photos from an evening out in the city of St Andrews.
This is a more nostalgic blog post, with images taken a few years ago on my visit to Vianden, a charming town in Luxembourg, nearly on the border with Germany. The town is known for its 13th Century castle, built upon a hill. There is a chairlift taking visitors up to the castle, providing views of the town from above.
Here are some of my favourite images from many Summers ago, in this charming European town...
A great travel itinerary to the Coromandel should include both the Te Pare Reserve and 309 Road. The last day on our most recent roadtrip started with a purple sunrise at Te Pare Reserve and ended in the Waiau Falls and Waiau Kauri Tree Grove on 309 Road. This provided a wide array of landscapes within the same day - sea, forest, and waterfalls.
Below are some of my favourite images of this wide range of destinations. Enjoy!
I did not expect much from Hot Water Beach, one of the destinations on our Coromandel trip, which made it all the better when the photos I took surpassed my expectations. These were taken on a beautiful morning, just after sunrise at the Te Pare Reserve.
The contrast between the clear green waters and orange sand dotted with geothermal pools is a truly unique sight. Here are some of my favourite images of this location.
The next stop on the Coromandel roadtrip was the incredible Cathedral Cove. The winding walk down to the beach surrounded by rolling hills and lush farmland, and fantastic 360 degree views. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip, providing excellent photographic opportunities both from the ground and from the sky.
I will let the pictures speak for themselves, this was a truly spectacular location, even on a cloudy afternoon...
My joint new venture with my partner, Two Dusty Lenses, is a travel blog aimed at other adventurous photographers and videographers. To inaugurate the blog, we took a weekend trip to the Coromandel and surrounding areas, following our 2-day itinerary.
The first stop on the short roadtrip was the Karangahake Gorge. Unfortunately it was a very cloudy day, but even so it was a worthwhile stop. My favourite part was photographing the Owharoa Falls, both from the land and from the air. Enjoy!
Following a snowy morning in Lake Tekapo, our short South Island roadtrip ended with a long drive back to Christhurch through the countryside. We stopped several times along the way to photograph the snow-covered pastures.
Over the next few months I will be returning to New Caledonia and spending two weeks in St Andrews, in Scotland. More photos coming soon!
The next day at Lake Tekapo proved to be a lucky one: we woke up at 5am to find that the town was covered in deep, fluffy snow. We headed out before sunrise to catch The Church of the Good Shepherd in the snow, and captured some aerial photography in the surrounding area.
The change of weather was a pleasant surprise. Over the span of three days, we had a beautiful purple sunset, followed by an almost-clear starry sky, and a snowy morning.
Our visit to Mount Cook National Park was an unlucky one, as the weather changed dramatically from the previous day and Mount Cook was nowhere to be seen. Nevertheless, the views from the Hooker Valley Track and Tasman Glacier Walk were still breathtaking.
Here are some of my favourite images from a very cloudy day at Mount Cook.
Following a visit to Arthur's Pass, we drove to Lake Tekapo, arriving just in time for sunset. As the sun sets on the opposite side of the lake in Autumn, we were left with a beautiful purple sky over The Church of the Good Shepherd. We also waited for nightfall to attempt some evening photographs, and although the skies clouded over, there were still quite a few stars to be seen.
